CWG 2014: Indian judokas win two silvers on opening day

By Agencies |Posted 24-Jul-2014

Glasgow: Navjot Chana and Shushila Likmabam had to settle for silver after losing to their opponents in the finals of their respective categories. While Chana lost in the final of the men's 60 kg event, Manipuri judoka Shushila Likmabam lost in the 48 kg category.

Judoka Shushila Likmabam won India its third medal on the opening day of the 20th Commonwealth Games, settling for the silver in the final of the women's -48kg category Thursday. Her opponent Kimberley Renicks took the first gold for hosts Scotland.

Scotland's Kimberly Renicks (in blue) shouts as she pushes down Shushila Likmabam from India during their women -48kg Judo final bout at the Commonwealth Games 2014 in Glasgow, Scotland, on Thursday.

Judoka Navjot Chana had to also settle for the silver medal after he lost the final bout of the men's -60kg category to England's Ashley McKenzie at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC) here Thursday.

The 30-year-old Chana was nowhere near his best during the final round. He picked up three penalties during the bout as McKenzie emerged the clear winner.

30-year-old Chana lost to England’s Ashley Mckenzie in 5 minutes while Shushila went down to Kimberley Renicks in 1 minute and 26 seconds. Kimberley took the first gold for hosts Scotland.

Earlier, Chana, who is employed with Punjab Police, beat South African Daniel Le Grange in the semi-finals while Shushila got the better of Australian Chloe Rayner.

Meerut girl Shivani lost her Round of 16 match in the -57kg category as she picked up three consecutive shidos against Canada’s Jessica Kimklait.

It was the end of road for Manjeet Nandal, who lost his men’s -66kg quarter-final bout to English Colin Oates, who picked up a shido just after the first minute but finished it off with an ippon.

It has been an impressive show by Nandal who won both his bouts (Round of 32 and 16) in comprehensive fashion. The 24-year-old from Haryana first beat Malta’s Jeremy Saywell by O-Soto-Gari.

Meanwhile, Indian shuttlers also started their campaign thrashing Ghana 5-0 in the mixed team event. Parupalli Kashyap beat Daniel Sam 21-6, 21-16 in the singles match. PV Sindhu then doubled the lead with a 21-7, 21-5 win over Stella Amasah. The men’s doubles pair of Akshay Dewalkar and Pranaav Chopra made it 3-0 beating Emmanuel Donkor and Abraham Ayittey 21-7, 21-11.

The women’s doubles defending champion pair of Jwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappa beat Evelyn Botwe and Diana Archer 21-4, 21-10. In the last tie PC Thulasi and Kidambi Srikanth paired up to beat Sam and Amasah 21-5, 21-9. In table tennis, Indian men and women’s team made a comfortable start by defeating Vanuatu and Barbados respectively. The women’s team blanked Barbados 3-0.